Alaphilippe 8th in time trial, retains Tour of California lead

Associated Press

Updated 10:09 pm, Friday, May 20, 2016

FOLSOM, Sacramento County — Eighth place felt like first for Julian Alaphilippe on Friday.

The French cyclist known for his climbing ability turned in a surprising performance in the Stage 6 time trial at the Tour of California, minimizing his losses in a discipline that has proved difficult for him in the past to retain his overall race lead.

Rohan Dennis won the stage with a blistering performance, covering the 12.6-mile course in 24 minutes, 16 seconds. But the Australian rider — one of the world’s best against the clock — was still 16 seconds behind Alaphilippe heading into Saturday’s penultimate stage.

BMC Racing’s Brent Bookwalter turned in the fifth-best time, vaulting into third in the overall standings. The American rider was 38 seconds behind Alaphilippe.

“I think that today was probably one of the best time trials that I’ve done, so I am happy with that,” Dennis said. “It was also a good indication that after six days, everything I have done leading up to now has been working and I am on the right track, especially after not a whole lot of racing. I’m in a good place mentally with my form, and I was happy to come away with that win.”

Earlier, Twenty16-Ridebiker won the women’s team time trial over the same course, followed by Boels-Dolmans and UnitedHealthcare. Megan Guarnier retained the overall lead.

The stage figured to be the biggest hurdle to victory for Alaphilippe. He was 14 seconds off the pace of Dennis at the midway checkpoint before fading to eighth place.